4. We desire to call attention to the fact that up to this time there is no evidence whatever of indolence, or irresolution, on the part of the Emperor Napoleon. From the time when he left Paris at half-past three in the morning of the 12th to the time of which we are now writing, he seems to have been fully up even to his own high standard of military activity and capacity. His general order for the movement of the army on the 15th was as clear and full as it was possible for an order to be. His energy and dash on the 15th were noticeable. His vigor and endurance also seem to have been equal to the demands put upon them. From three in the morning to eight in the evening of the 15th he was on horseback, and in personal command of the troops. At midnight he had a long conference with Marshal Ney. Since the result of that conference was, as we have seen, to induce the postponement of the advance of the army, the Emperor may, very possibly, have taken some rest in the early morning hours of the 16th. But the despatch to Ney requesting from him an exact account of his position must have been sent off about five, and at or soon after eight we find him dictating to Count Flahaut the letters to Ney and Grouchy. It is hardly necessary to add, that if the explanation given above of the causes of the delay in the advance-movement of the army on the morning of the 16th be correct, there is not the slightest foundation for the charges of hesitation or irresolution, which have been so often made.[311] 5. It seems to be difficult for some writers to keep steadily in mind the absolute necessity of Napoleon’s either defeating the Prussians or compelling them definitely to retreat, before he undertook any movement in the direction of Brussels, either with the view of attacking the English or of occupying that city. Thus Chesney,[312] speaking of Napoleon’s intentions on the morning of the 16th, says:— “His morning orders clearly prove that he expected no serious opposition from them (the Prussians) or the English at present, and was divided only in his mind between the thought of pressing on direct to Brussels between the two allied armies, or striking at the supposed Prussian right, driven back on Fleurus the day before.” But Napoleon’s letters to Ney and Grouchy, to which Chesney here refers, explicitly contradict this supposition. Napoleon says in his letter to Ney:—[313] “I am sending Marshal Grouchy with the 3d and 4th Corps of infantry to Sombreffe. I am taking my Guard to Fleurus, and I shall be there myself before noon. I shall there attack the enemy if I meet him, and I shall clear the road as far as Gembloux. There, after what shall have passed, I shall make up my mind.”